Foi Advocates Joining Luneta
Indignation On Budget Scam

The Right to Know. Right
Now! Coalition heeds the spontaneous call for a
people's march to Luneta on August 26. We join the people in
expressing collective indignation over the large-scale budget scam
reported by various media outfits and by the Commission on Audit
(COA), and currently under investigation by the Department of
Justice (DOJ).

While we are still far from knowing the
complete facts of this controversy, it is already established that
corrupt individuals have systematically created bogus
non-government organizations or foundations for the purpose of
plundering hard-earned taxpayers' money through ghost projects,
under-deliveries, or overpricing in the implementation of the
Priority Development Assistant Fund (PDAF).

Already the public rage is bearing positive
government response. In addition to the ongoing investigation by
the DOJ, the Senate has reversed its earlier decision not to
conduct its own investigation. The President has also proposed a
"new mechanism" that will embody changes in project scope and
budget releases.

Such initial positive responses from the
different government agencies, however, should further stoke rather
than dampen the spontaneous action in Luneta on August 26. We have
just begun to scratch the surface of the issue.

For one, the question of what to ultimately
do about the system of pork barrel remains up in the air. For
another, the investigations are still at the preliminary stages,
with more questions remaining unanswered and details still to
uncover before we can even proceed to the stage of full
accountability.

Equally important, we find repugnant the
breakdown in government checks and accountability mechanisms, with
the plunder prospering under the very noses of the Department of
Budget and Management and the various implementing line agencies of
the Executive, the legislators in their PDAF allocations, the
Commission on Audit, and the Ombudsman, and with applicable
safeguards such as the procurement law. If such breakdown of checks
and accountability mechanisms can happen to PDAF constituting less
than 1.5 percent of the total government budget, how can we be
assured that no such breakdown happens in the bigger 98.5 percent
of the budget? We note, for instance, that the fertilizer fund scam
that appears to have used similar modus operandi happened
with agency budget and not PDAF. While the COA special audit
covered expenditures made prior to 2010, we are deluding ourselves
if we think that similar schemes just magically disappeared with
the change of administration.

Now more than ever we are convinced of the
urgency to pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. We cannot
help but observe the glaring absence of the passage of the FOI law
in the measures on PDAF proposed by the President. True, the
measures reiterate the ongoing program of proactive disclosure by
the DBM on the budget, but we emphasize that such proactive
transparency, largely limited to general or aggregate allocations
and spending or listing of projects, is not enough to allow
citizens to get to the bottom of scams. While these provide leads,
we need to complement them with request-based access to information
to be able to dig deeper. The People's FOI Bill seeks to address
this, but it is also the potential effectiveness of FOI in
mitigating scams that appears to be the reason why it has been
facing determined resistance across government
administrations.

We reiterate our resolve to fight, alongside
legislators who are showing independence and similar commitment,
for the passage of an effective and empowering FOI law. This is our
contribution to the various citizens' initiatives to push for the
accountability of all those involved in the plunder, and to finally
put a stop to the budget scams, whether in PDAF or elsewhere, that
have bled our public resources.

In relation to the FOI legislative process,
we are happy to note that Senator Grace Poe, Chairperson of the
Committee on Public Information at the Senate, is already in the
process of scheduling the first committee hearing on the FOI Bills.
We hope for a prompt passage of FOI in the Senate, to allow
everyone to focus on overcoming the roadblocks that historically
characterize the legislative process on FOI at the House of
Representatives.

For the August 26 march, we come in
solidarity with citizens who choose to take action, and encourage
others to do the same. Our contingent will assemble at Leasing
Boniface at 9 a.m, and we will then march by 10 a.m. to Luneta to
join the people's gathering.

Stop the budget scams! Deepen, expand and
promptly complete the investigation! Prosecute those found to be
culpable! Pass the People's FOI Act!